Government’s Family Package to improve life

Angie Warren-Clark
Labour MP

You’ll have seen in the recent Budget that New Zealand is doing well.

Everyone deserves credit for that, especially the millions of hard-working Kiwis who get up each morning determined to help their family get ahead. Now it’s time to make sure families are doing well too, and that the everyday Kiwis start enjoying more of the fruits of our country’s economic success.

This month marks one of the biggest changes to everyday Kiwi family incomes in decades. When the Families Package is fully rolled out, more than 384,000 middle and lower income families will be better off by an average of $75 a week.

As well as raising incomes for everyday families, the package will also lift tens of thousands of children out of poverty.

The first few years of a child’s life can shape their future.

We want every child to have the best possible start and we want all parents to be able to share in that precious time with their children. That’s why this month, we’re extending paid parental leave from 18 to 22 weeks, and further to 26 weeks by 2020.